The tabletop role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons is more popular today than it has ever been in its 44-year history. If you have some D&D nerds on your list this year, I have five new Dungeons & Dragons books that make great holiday gifts, so get your pouch of gold ready.

The latest in a long line of Instagram-serialized comics that have been turned into books, Woman World by Aminder Dhaliwal makes a worthy addition to the 21st century graphic novel canon. Full of lively characters and a philosophy of inclusivity, Woman World is an utter delight to read.

The beauty of Soppy author Philippa Rice‘s Sister BFFs lies in its near-universal appeal. The dynamic between the illustrated Rice and her sister worked for this reader — a not-quite-only child with only one same-generation sibling — as a reflection of the BFF relationships I maintain. Although I highly recommend this book as a co-read for close siblings, Sister BFFs is as much an exploration of friendship as of kinship.

Han Kang, Min Jin Lee, and Crystal Hana Kim have given us their own unique glimpses into the Korean peninsula’s history and present, but few novels of South Korea have gone to so dark a place as Ancco‘s semi-autobiographical work, Bad Friends. This brief, striking vision of South Korea’s early Sixth Republic presents a side of the country rarely seen in the West, one driven by alcohol, drugs, and prostitution.

I was in my senior year of college before I learned to spot the widespread vilification of vulvas and vaginas. In reading Swedish artist Liv Strömquist‘s graphic novel, Fruit of Knowledge: The Vulva vs. The Patriarchy, I relived every emotion and thought I had at the moment of realization. For feminists looking to renew and refocus their fury, it’s hard to beat Fruit of Knowledge as light reading. Continue reading →